Chamber and committees

The Green Jobs Fund is not a skills or training fund. Over the next 5 years, the £100m Fund will provide businesses with capital investment towards improved green products and services and related research and development. All individual funding applications are subject to a detailed appraisal process that includes an equality impact assessment and evaluation of fair work practices. We will also ensure that future larger consortia projects produce plans which help diversify their sectors and will use appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure successful companies and their net zero supply chains provide positive economic and employment impacts that raise skill levels and close skills gaps.

This year, we have also established a Green Jobs Workforce Academy which will help people to get the skills they need to move into new, greener jobs. Training opportunities will be supported by our investment in apprenticeships, our Young Person’s Guarantee, the National Transition Training Fund and £15m North East Economic Recovery Fund which will all take account, in their delivery, of how they can support people from protected and underrepresented groups.

In 2021-22 the Scottish Government allocated £11.7 billion to authorities and it is the responsibility of individual councils to manage their own budgets and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we are aware that authorities across the country are under financial pressure, and that this has impacted on planning departments. That is why in 2019 we published a consultation which proposed making changes to the planning fee regime to increase the financial resources available to authorities. That work was paused during the pandemic but has recently been recommenced and we will work with the High Level Group on Planning Performance to take it forward.

The performance of the system is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities and everyone involved in planning must play their part in ensuring that the system functions effectively and efficiently.

Some planning applications will have longer decision times due to their scale and complexity. Planning decision timescales have also inevitably been affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020-21, despite these impacts, authorities determined 4,293 planning applications for housing.

The UK Government has been working with United Nations to provide COVID-19 vaccines to COP26 delegates that would otherwise not be able to access them. All those who expressed an interest in vaccination to either arrange appointments or set out next steps, have been contacted. For those delegates receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, first doses have already started. Second doses will follow four weeks later. For those receiving the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, vaccination will start shortly. Delegates in countries identified as having a viable in-country option, have been contacted. UK embassies are supporting these delegates with access, where required.

The Scottish Government values the positive contribution made by Catholic schools and there are no plans to review the important role they play in the Scottish education system and wider society.

The Green Jobs Fund is not a skills or training fund. Over the next 5 years, the £100m Fund will provide businesses with capital investment towards improved green products and services and related research and development. All individual funding applications are subject to a detailed appraisal process that includes an equality impact assessment and evaluation of fair work practices. We will also ensure that larger consortia projects produce plans which help diversify their sectors and will use appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure successful companies and their net zero supply chains provide positive economic and employment impacts that raise skill levels and close skills gaps.

Our 2021 manifesto committed to continuing to promote Fair Work in the Scottish Economy and help tackle occupational segregation, one of the main drivers of the gender pay gap and women’s workplace inequality.

Our Covid Recovery Strategy will bring together the actions we will take across government and with partners to address the impact of the pandemic on those hardest hit in our country. Our 10-year National Strategy for Economic Transformation will then help build a greener, fairer and more inclusive wellbeing economy, which has fair work, including tacking the gender pay gap, and a just transition to net zero at its heart, and which delivers sustainable and inclusive growth for Scotland’s people and places.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council meet regularly to discuss a range of matters, including equalities issues.

Universities, as autonomous institutions, are aware of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Many are actively and presently consulting within their diverse communities and stakeholder interests on the definition, with three (University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh and Abertay University) having adopted it to date. Universities UK is working with the Union of Jewish Students to raise awareness and understanding of antisemitism and to share best practice in tackling and eliminating it.

The Scottish Government continues to work with universities and the Scottish Funding Council to tackle racism and antisemitism.

As the Minister for Environment and Land Reform, I am responsible for environmental and climate justice.

Numbers of Nurses and Midwives in Scotland have increased by 12.1% (or 6,850.9 WTE) in this Government, since September 2006.

As a result of efforts to enhance staffing capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic, Nursing and Midwifery numbers have increased by 4.9% since December 2019 (60,651.0 to 63,634.1 WTE).

Despite consistent NHS workforce growth over nine years, it is common for vacancies to increase in the quarter to June. This period coincides with end of financial year retirements and directly precedes autumn graduate recruitment.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, we have invested in significantly increasing the NHS workforce; and have supported Boards to extensively redeploy staff to respond to changing clinical priorities.

We are also investing £11 million in new recruitment activity and in the creation of a National Centre for Workforce Supply. The Centre will offer NHS Boards expert advice on labour market intelligence and coordinate recruitment campaigns, providing vital additional support to health board recruitment teams. It will take full account of numbers of vacancies within Boards in doing so.

We have also sustained our investment in medical and nursing education during the course of the pandemic, with record numbers commencing training in 2020-21 (4,206 for nursing and 1,138 for medicine); and that number is set to rise further this autumn.

The number of staff working in NHS Lanarkshire has increased by 31.4 per cent since Sept 2006, to over 12,170 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE). This includes a 28.4 per cent increase in numbers of Qualified Nurses and Midwives, which have risen to 4,309 WTE.

NHSScotland Boards are required to have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of the service and ensure high quality patient care. They have fully delegated powers in relation to employment issues. The Scottish Government works closely with Boards to support their efforts in staff recruitment. The creation of posts and filling of individual vacancies will depend on the service needs of each Board, taking account of national and local priorities.

We are investing £11 million in new recruitment activity and in the creation of a National Centre for Workforce Supply. The Centre will offer NHS Boards expert advice on labour market intelligence and coordinate recruitment campaigns, providing vital additional support to health board recruitment teams.

We are also taking forward a comprehensive programme to support recovery and build further capacity. The programme will include measures to increase international recruitment, retain staff and attract more returners to the service and new youth employment opportunities. The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to explore options and opportunities that allow us to best support our registered staff.